The design of the organizational structure of a company and especially of a corporation, is an extremely complex process, not only for the significantly important number of variables to be considered but also for the implications that it generates in the short, medium and long term.
Especially in the particular case of a Matrix structure, only the Culture, Maturity, Supervisory Management expertise and Interpersonal skills of all the staff are the guarantors that said structure can meet the increasingly demanding requirements of efficiency and efficiencies. by our reason for being, our CLIENTS.
The term matrix was coined there in the 1950s and is attributed to the aerospace industry in the United States, who named that term Grid-like structures. Approximately twenty years later, Administrative science takes the term and amalgamates it with a new model of organizational structure "Matrix Structure" and thus, during the 70s and 80s it remained at the top of the ranking, if it was the literature on business management.
Despite new models and definitions (example: network structure) today, almost 40 years after its inception, it is still in force and bearing fruit for many corporations.
The next evolutionary leap, after a divisional structure (based on the grouping of units by criteria of products, customers, geographic areas or markets, this structure is made up of autonomous units (divisions) and a central direction that deals with the strategy. resource allocation and control) should be the Matrix structure, in other words, the Matrix structure should come after having acquired the experience, culture, maturity, and expertise of a functional structure followed by a divisional one.
Why do I mention the organizational evolutionary process of the company? Undoubtedly, the design of the organizational structure of a company and especially of a corporation, is an extremely complex process, not only because of the significantly important number of variables to be considered but also because of the implications that this generates in the short, medium and long term. Especially in the particular case of a Matrix structure, only the Culture, Maturity, Supervisory Management expertise and Interpersonal skills of all the staff are the guarantors that said structure can meet the increasingly demanding requirements of efficiency and efficiencies. by our reason for being, our CUSTOMERS.
The evolutionary process to go from a Vertical to a Matrix organization begins with the mere inability of the organization to respond and solve in time those problems such as technological changes, etc., etc.
Such problems traverse unscrupulously a large number of units across the length and breadth of the organization and energetically demand rapid and complex responses. The vertical hierarchy cannot cope quickly enough with all these problems that require and require horizontal and vertical coordination. And so, the matrix organization arose from the need to work with experts and specialists from different areas with really different functions and complexities, who once assigned to the project focus and visualize a common horizon, to comply with Strategic Planning.
The name of matrix structure comes from the fact that a matrix is formed where the columns are defined by the different areas of competence of the project and the corresponding rows are defined by the functional areas of the functional structure of the company, in this way each cell will be filled with the personnel "on loan", coming from the functional areas on the basis that they are required to satisfy the project requirements. Assignment that will have a finite period of time, if it will have a start date and an end date and in this way, once your assignment ends, you will return to your home functional unit.
I think it is necessary to point out that this employee, who was assigned to a project, will have at least two supervisors to report to (I say at least since he may have, directly and / or indirectly, more than two):
- (Project area) to his immediate superior supervisor to whom, according to the schedule, he will report the status (progress, analysis and possible inconveniences) of his executed activities (Functional area) to his immediate superior supervisor, to whom he will report, as representative of the functional unit in the project, the quality of its executed activities.
If we amalgamate the words Maturity, Supervisory Managerial Expertise and Interpersonal skills, we will obtain an important number of products, but among them, a keyword will emerge that deserves respect, Integration.
It is nothing new to point out that the projects vary from the smallest to the extremely large (Mega projects), from the simplest to the most complex, all without exception, they are multidisciplinary.
In this way and in order to optimize the management of resources and relying firmly on the matrix organization, a great challenge arises, the great headache of both the Project Manager and the Functional Manager, which starts and ends together with the project, The great dilemma Integration, this does not usually come alone, it must necessarily be planned, coordinated, monitored and controlled. The Project Manager is the only one who, from his key position, manages a global vision of the entire project, thus allowing him to foresee possible integration conflicts. However, the experience in tune with the opinion of many authorities in the matter, stand out and coincide in the fact that a high percentage of these conflicts can vanish with an intelligent and appropriate definition of activities, inconveniences,responsibilities and interrelationships (Matrix structure), according to the demands of the project.
By way of conclusion, to get to Wednesday, we must necessarily go through Monday and Tuesday, it would be daring and playing to lose, trying to skip a step within the evolutionary chain. Be careful unless you want to play Russian roulette.
